Implantable medical devices that produce stimulation signals and/or that sense physiological signals utilize implantable medical leads to carry electrical signals. The implantable medical leads include electrodes on a distal end that interface with the bodily tissue. Electrical conductors within the medical lead electrically connect the electrodes on the distal end with electrical contacts on the proximal end that engage electrical connectors of the medical device.
The medical lead is implanted within the body with the distal end being routed to the appropriate site to stimulate and/or sense. The proximal end of the lead remains nearby the incision site where the medical device is also implanted and sutured to tissue. To ensure that the lead is also held in place, an anchor is installed on the lead, and the anchor is then sutured to tissue.
Conventionally, anchors were designed to slide over the lead body and then be held tightly to the lead body by the suture. In such a case, the anchor could be removed by cutting the suture and then sliding the anchor off of a free end of the lead, typically the proximal end of the lead that is disconnected from the medical device. However, there may be other anchor designs that use elasticity to grip onto the lead body and do not freely slide along the lead body. In that case, cutting the sutures that tie the anchor to the tissue does not result in the anchor being able to slide off of a free end of the lead such that the anchor remains affixed to the lead body.